Auto safety belt buckle



A ril 26, 1966 F. v. GUERRERO AUTO SAFETY BELT BUCKLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 13, 1964 i ll III III: ralxlnull l FERNANDO V. GUERRERO AGENT April 26, 1966 v, GUERRERQ 3,247,563

AUTO SAFETY BELT BUCKLE Filed April 13, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FERNANDO V.GUERRERO AGENT United States Patent 3,247,563 AUTO SAFETY BELT BUCKLE Fernando V. Guerrero, Montclair, N.;l., assiguor to Allied Chemical Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 359,239 7 Claims. (Cl. 24-430) made as lighter weight buckles of this invention.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a "belt buckle particularly suitably adaptable for use as an auto safety belt buckle which is light weight. It is a still further object to provide such safety belt buckle which has a minimum of parts with a maximum amount of attendant safety. It is a still further object of this invention to provide safety belt buckles having its main body portion made of a rigid resilient material, preferably glass reinforced nylon. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a buckle assembly which can readily be injection molded of nylon. These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more clearly seen from the following more complete description and claims.

This invention contemplates a buckle assembly comprising a body being opened :at one end thereof, the opening being of sufficient dimension to permit passage therethrough of oppositely extending projections of a clip, a generally cylindrical hollow rotor rotatable within said body, said rotor having a generally T-shaped orifice of suflicient dimension to permit passage of the oppositely extending projections therein only when the crossbar of said orifice is aligned 'so as to face said opening, means for rotating said rotor within said body to align said crossbar portion with said opening and means for afiixing belting to said body.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, this invention contemplates a buckle assembly comprising a body having two openings at one end thereof, each of which lie in the same lateral plane and wherein each is of suflicient dimension to permit passage therethrough of a lateral extending projection, the projections extending in opposite directions, a generally cylindrical hollow rotor rotatable within said body by a lever, said rotor having a generally T-shaped orifice of sufficient dimension to permit passage of the oppositely extending projections therein only when the crossbar of said orifice is aligned so as to face said openings, a channel at'the opposite end of said body through which belting'can pass and means detachably secured from said body at one end of said channel about which said belting passes 'to secure said belting to said body.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals represent like parts and dotted lead lines point to parts present but not seen in a particular view:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded plan view of a preferred buckle assembly of this invention with the clip member separated from the body and the buckle in unlocked position.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view partially broken away of the preferred buckle assembly of this invention with the clip in position and the buckle in locked position.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded side elevation of the buckle assembly in unlocked position.

3,2475% Patented Apr. 26, 1966 FIGURE 4 is a side elevation similar to FIGURE 3 with the buckel in locked position.

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the buckle looking upward, this view being taken along line 55 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded vertical sectional view taken generally along line 66 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 77 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 8 is an end view of the buckle taken along line 88 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional plan view of the buckle as sembly, this view being taken along line 99 of FIG- URE 3.

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the rotor 4, with clip 26 engaged therein, said clip 26 and belt being shown in engaged position.

Body 2 of the preferred buckle assembly of this invention has provided therein a rotor 4 rotatable about an angle of about 120 by a lever 6 fastened on the end of rotor 4 by peening lugs 8 of rotor 4 over slots 9 provided on the end of lever 6. Rotor 4 has on its surface generally T-shaped slot 10 with the crossbar or horizontal member 11 running lengthwise of the rotor 4, and the stem or vertical member 13 running circumferentially of the rotor 4. By rotation of the generally cylindrical hollow rot-or 4 the opening 11 can be aligned with openings 12 on the face 14 of body 2, the openings 12 being separated by neck 15. At one side of body 2 and rotor 4 there is provided groove 16 in which there is maintained coil spring 18 having an inwardly extending end 20 within hole 21 penetrating against that side of body 2 and outwardly extending end 22 positioned in a hole 23 on the annular flange lip 24 of the rotor 4. A clip 26 having belting 28 sewed thereon provides the end of the belt insertable within the buckle portion. The clip 26 generally has any configuration having oppositely extending projections 36 which are of sufficient dimension that they pass through openings 12 and thence through horizontal portion 11 of generally T-shaped slot 10 when said portion is aligned with openings 12. With respect to openings 12 it is noted that the preferred embodiment of this invention has two distinct openings 12 connected by a neck portion 15 which lie in the same lateral plane. It is also contemplated that one large opening can be employed therefor. The rotor 4 preferably has a concave ridge 32 which snaps into a convex ridge 34in the bore 35 of body 2 at one side of the buckle assembly, preferably the side opposite coil spring 18. The body 2 also has provided at the end opposite face 14 a transverse channel 36 through which passes belting 37, which belting passes around belting brace 33 beneath and between inwardly extending lips 44 as seen in FIGURE 5 extending inwardly which brace is generally the subject of FIGURE 5. The belting brace contains a stamped steel insert 40, which by insert molding is surrounded with a rigid resilient material such a as nylon. This belting brace 38 forms at its ends in the rigid resilient material, V-shaped slots 42 which 'by compression enable easy removal of the belting brace 38 so as to allow adjustment of the belting 37 at that end of the buckle assembly. Body 2 forms at the bottom of channel 36 and on its sides curvatures 45 and 47 which face one another which curvatures allow snap in fitting of belting brace 38.

In operation, the lever 6 is rotated about an angle of about thereby rotating rotor 4 and aligning the horizontal portion of the generally T shaped slot 10 so as to face openings 12 of body 2. In rotating the lever clockwise tension is placed upon coil spring 18 by pressure against inwardly extending end 20. Oppositely extending projections 39 of clip 25 about which belting 28 is sewed thereon is then passed through opening or openings 12 and then through the horizontal portion of the generally T shaped surface slot 10. The lever 6 is then released causing coil spring 18 to release its potential energy and rotate rotor 4 counter-clockwise thereby positioning the horizontal portion of the generally T shaped slot 10 out of the same horizontal plane with opening 12 on body 2. The projections are then held in place against the inside of the cylindrical rotor 4. When the cylindrical rotor 4 is rotated counter-clockwise or allowed to spring back by action of the coil spring 18, a portion of the clip 26 extends through the vertical cut-out portion 13 of the generally T shaped slot 10 which portion is not of sufficient dimension to permit passage of projections 30 out of the hollow cylindrical rotor 4 and the projections 30 are held against the inside of the hollow rotor 4 thus locking the buckle assembly.

The belting 37 passes through channel 36 and then around the belting brace 38 which as indicated above is secured to yet detachable from the body 2 by pressure on the rigid resilient surface material thereby closing generally V shaped slots 42, decreasing the circumference of the slot and allowing it to be unsnapped from the body 2, the latter forming curvatures 45 and 47 at the bottom of channel 36. As seen in FIGURE 5, the belting brace 38 has lips 44 which extend around the belting 37 so that when the brace 38 is free of the body 2 it will not get separated from the belting 37 with possible loss of this memher. To adjust the belt length, the belting brace is removed as above described, the length of the belting is regulated as above to fit the user and the brace 38 is then reinserted into the body 2 at curvatures 45 and 47. It is to be realized that this means of providing a memher on which the belting 37 can be fastened is not an essential part of the buckle assembly of this invention. Accordingly, other methods such as use of a generally rectangular bar extending outwardly of the buckle assembly about which the belting 28 can pass together with a means for taking up the slack in the belting can be suit ably used although the fastening means herein disclosed is preferred.

Upon the application of pressure which may be cccasioned by a short stoppage of an automobile or the like, oppositely extending projections 30 are forced against the inside of the generally cylindrical hollow rotor 4 thereby preventing the wearer of such a safety belt buckle from being thrown forward by inertia. It is to be noted with particular importance that the body 2 and the rotor 4 of this invention can be constructed of any rigid resilient material such as nylon, glass reinforced nylon and glass reinforced polyester and polyacetal. The unique properties of thermoplastic materials such as nylon are particularly appreciated in the assembly of the belt buckle of this invention in that the concave ridge 32, at the end of the rotor 4 can readily snap into the convex ridge 34 of the body 2 thereby holding the rotor 4 rigidly yet rotatably in place. Since this buckle assembly can be made largely from these lightweight materials the body can be made in one piece as can the belting brace. The other parts can be made by economical stamping or wire forming methods.

The above disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the nature of this invention and is not intended to be limitative of the same since certain modifications or departures from the above disclosure can be made by one skilled in the art. For instance, one can construct a rotor rotatable by a lever wherein to align the generally T shaped slot it is not necessary to move the lever clockwise Such a belt buckle assembly would have a slightly differently constructed rotor with its generally T shaped slot but nevertheless it is contemplated within the scope of the instant invention. Accordingly, the instant invention should be constructed only in the light of its spirit and scope.

I claim:

1. A buckle assembly comprising a body being opened at one end thereof, the opening being of sufficient dimension to permit passage therethrough of oppositely extending projections of a clip, a generally cylindrical hollow rotor rotatable within said body, said rotor having a generally T shaped orifice of sufficient dimension to permit passage of the oppositely extending projections therein only when the crossbar of said orifice is aligned so as to face said opening, means for rotating said rotor within said body to align said crossbar with said opening and means for affixing belting to said body.

2. A buckle assembly comprising a body having two openings at one end thereof, each of which lie in the same lateral plane and wherein each is of suflicient dimension to permit passage therethrough of a lateral extending projection, the projections extending in opposite directions, a generally cylindrical hollow rotor rotatable within said body by a lever, said rotor having a generally T shaped orifice of sufiicient dimension to permit passage of the oppositely extending projections therein only when the crossbar of said orifice is aligned so as to face said openings, a channel at the opposite end of said body through which belting can pass and means detachably secured from said body at one end of said channel about which said belting passes to secure said belting to said body.

3. A buckle assembly according to claim 2 wherein said body is of a rigid resilient material.

4. A buckle assembly according to claim 2 wherein said body is of nylon.

5. A buckle assembly according to claim 2 wherein said body is of glass reinforced nylon.

6. A buckle assembly according to claim 2 wherein said means detachably secured from said body at one end of said channel comprise a brace extending through said body, said brace having a surface of a rigid resilient material, said surface being provided at each end of said brace with a pair of generally V shaped slots.

7. A buckle assembly according to claim 6 wherein said brace is provided at each end thereof with inwardly extending lips beneath and between which said belting passes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,459,223 1/ 1949 Henderson. 2,940,148 6/ 1960 Gentile. 3,168,770 2/1965 John.

FOREIGN PATENTS 704,978 5/ 1931 France. 1,108,498 1/1956 France. 1,324,302 3/1963 France.

724,408 8/ 1942 Germany. 1,102,567 3/ 1961 Germany.

264,551 5/ 1929 Italy.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

BERNARD A. BELAK, Examiner. 

1. A BUCKLE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A BODY BEING OPENED AT ONE END THEREOF, THE OPENING BEING OF SUFFICIENT DIMENSION TO PERMIT PASSAGE THERETHROUGH OF OPPOSITELY EXTENDING PROJECTIONS OF A CLIP, A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL HOLLOW ROTOR ROTATABLE WITHIN SAID BODY, SAID ROTOR HAVING A GENERALLY T SHAPED ORIFICE OF SUFFICIENT DIMENSION TO PERMIT PASSAGE OF THE OPPOSITELY EXTENDING PROJECTIONS THEREIN ONLY WHEN THE CROSSBAR OF SAID ORIFICE IS ALIGNED SO AS TO FACE SAID OPENING, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROTOR WITHIN SAID BODY TO ALIGN SAID CROSSBAR WITH SAID OPENING AND MEANS FOR AFFIXING BELTING TO SAID BODY. 